This album
is a masterpiece of huge noise. Anatomy of Habit has produced a musical
titan composed of two halves: the rolling ‘Radiate and Recede’ &
the intense ‘Then Window’. Anatomy of Habit simply roll with
unrestrained mass in their sound, using what sounds like a stadium to
push wave after wave of fuzz and bass over the listener. The songs
aren't short jaunts through ideas either, but winding 20+ minute paths
that wind through poetic ideas. The band is basically a super group,
using members from other notable acts: Mark Solotroff (Bloodyminded),
John McEntire (Tortoise, The Sea and Cake, Gastr Del Sol), Will Lindsay
(Indians, Wolves in the Throne Room), Theo Katsaounis (Joan of Arc), and
Kenny Rasmussen (ex Radar Eyes). These talented individuals have
brought you an album that is closer to art, than just simply heavy
music. I have minced words too long, let’s dive in!

The first
epic, ‘Radiate and Recede’, is pretty spot on. The entire song is
basically following a tidal pattern of having the guitars and, I think,
string accompaniment roll in at measured times, to flow over everything.
It's like God slowly rolling up the volume of universal life to just
drown out petty humanity. It's somewhat akin to white noise, the
repeating chords and notes just seem to blank out whatever is inside
your head, while Solotroff simply gives an odd beauty with his nearly
chant-like vocals. It’s a weird combination, but one that sticks in the
listeners head pretty nicely. He doesn't alter his cadence, using a
monotone baritone to deliver his simple lines, but it winds well with
the building wall of noise and doom rolling around you. The vocals do
change in a couple of spots, where he gets some scream time in, but
nothing as terrible as screamo or other style so terrible. It arrives in
time with a huge change in tempo and attitude with the band, and peaks
to break into the lulls it so commands. The song, when at its simplest,
uses percussion and minimal guitar to just leave a resounding space for
Solotroff's voice to echo into infinity, which has to just knock angels
out of their clouds. The ending of ‘Radiate and Recede’ is really heady,
as it becomes more plodding doom, with a subtle transition from the
earlier parts. It gets all kinds of heavy.

‘Then
Window’ is quite different from ‘Radiate and Recede’, it starts with
some heavy feedback, which then just morphs into differing textures and
patterns. After about a minute of that, they go right into a heavy
marching pattern, with the stringed half playing quite percussively with
the drums. It has a purpose, and it's not stopping for anything. The
vocals are in the same vein as ‘Radiate and Recede’, following a
specific pattern and still that odd chant singing. This is by far my
favorite song, as it has a bit more energy than the first song, and also
because of the change in the last 7+ minutes of the song. The first 13
are more traditional doom and rock styled, as you have intense grooves
with extremely hard delivery. It almost sounds like they had to get this
last one out of their strings, so they went for broke on some sections.
It goes immediately from groove city to light sections with minimal
playing and more vocals. The lighter sections aren't to leave you
hanging, as they slowly ramp up from behind to deliver right back into
heaviness. The change happens at the 9 minute mark, where the song just
starts fading out from the vocals, like they were all just sneaking out
to leave Solotroff alone with himself, but then he stops on the repeated
line of "Ciphers, and Axioms", and the song takes a rolling, ambient
feel. It's like watching the baby float through 2001: A Space Odyssey,
it’s just epic. It’s rolling noise with an underlying riff right below
it, probably best on certain chemicals.

Overall,
‘Ciphers + Axioms’ by Anatomy of Habit is one of the best albums from
last year, perfect for the heavy aficionado who likes to mix it up with
their collection.